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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

AG Bob McDonnell Comments On Concealed Carry at Colleges

The AG was in SWVA recently and had this to say about colleges rights to ban weapons.

Virginia’s colleges have the right to prevent students – even those with concealed-weapons permits – from carrying firearms on campus if college rules prohibit them, the state’s attorney general said here Monday. Bob McDonnell visited with Appalachian School of Law students during a tour of Southwest Virginia. The attorney general was a guest of The Federalist Society and addressed students on property rights and other constitutional issues. After his lecture, McDonnell was asked his opinion of whether guns are legal on campus, specifically as it relates to a recent incident at The University of Virginia’s College at Wise. Earlier this month, student Steven Barber was expelled after campus police found three guns locked in the trunk of his car. Barber, who had a concealed-weapons permit, did not violate any state laws, but did break campus rules prohibiting guns. Barber’s vehicle was searched after college officials became concerned about a paper he wrote that referenced suicide and included a character who thought about killing a professor. A Scott County judge took away Barber’s concealed-weapons permit, but he is appealing. The attorney general said some aspects of Virginia’s gun laws are not clear but his interpretation is that a college’s board of visitors or governing body may determine its own policy regarding guns on campus. A board of visitors has authority over those on campus, McDonnell said. “That authority trumps the concealed-weapons law,” he said.(LINK)